S36b: Affective Dimensions in Chemistry Education

Organizer: Murat Kahveci (Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey)

Presider: Murat Kahveci (Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey)

The affective domain refers to feelings-based constructs such as attitudes, values, beliefs, opinions, interests, and motivation. As opposed to cognitive dimensions, the affective dimensions in science education have received less attention by researchers. The main reason seems to be that the practice of everyday science or what is often referred as “the nature of science” we do has long been assumed to be reason-driven, separated from individuals’ feelings. While this assumption may work in research laboratories with “extremely excited” graduate students, it may not be a valid assumption when teaching science at large, including to students at early ages. This symposium will host the research and theoretical papers that are related to the affective dimensions in Chemistry Education at all grade levels and age groups. Particular attention may be paid to–but is not limited to–gender differences, ethnic, and cultural varieties of these issues from teaching, learning, and research standpoints.